Scholarship Boys
by kelleywrites
Summary: When Nick's dorm room door opens one night to a strange new roommate Nick makes it his mission to befriend the boy.
1. Chapter 1

**A Niff story in the making, I'm not sure how long it'll be, yet, but hopefully you'll enjoy it. **

Day One

* * *

I was working on some homework when I heard a key slid into the lock on my door and it opened slowly. In walked what a presumed was my new roommate, and he was hot. Really hot. I heard him say something and I came back to reality and shook his hand.

"I'm Nick. Do you want help with the rest of your stuff?" I asked the boy who'd just timidly introduced himself as Jeff, my new roommate.

"I don't have anything else." He whispered with a shrug.

"Okay well if you need help unpacking, I need a distraction from my history essay." I told him awkwardly.

"Thanks." He mumbled as he laid down on his bare bed, curled into a ball and quickly fell asleep. Huh, that's super strange, he only has a duffel bag and a backpack. The kid didn't even bring sheets. He also came all alone, no caring parents fussing over unpacking his stuff or making his bed, or saying he needed to call when he was all settled in, Jeff was just here, alone.

Three Days Later

* * *

Three days. It had been three days, and my new roommate had barely left our room. He went to classes, but that was it. He ate his meals in our room, he didn't talk to anyone (that I saw), and he didn't really talk to me either unless I asked a direct question. He still slept on his bare bed, and I realized that he didn't have sheets. He only had the one uniform too. I wondered about him, where he came from, how he ended up at this fancy boarding school. He must have been a scholarship kid like me if he didn't even have sheets, but something must have happened to him to make him this shy and quiet. I may not be much better off, still being brand new here, and not having many friends yet, but Jeff needed someone to care.

It was maybe ten or so when Jeff gathered his shower stuff and left the room. I took the opportunity to put my extra set of sheets on his bed along with an extra pillow and blanket, then I brushed my teeth and went to bed myself.

I wasn't asleep yet when he came back and saw the bed, and I saw him smile for the first time, big and genuine. He looked at my bed, and must have seen me close my eyes because he walked over and thanked me. It was the loudest I'd heard him speak so far. I grinned, and knew we were one step closer to friends.

Two Weeks Later

* * *

I walked into the room after my last class, and Jeff was lying down on his bed doing his math homework.

"Hey Jeff." I said as I set down my backpack and flopped on my bed.

"Hey."

"How are your classes going?"

"They're harder than my old school for sure."

"I know, man. Where'd you go before Dalton?"

"Timmothy High School."

"Never heard of it."

"You wouldn't have. I was tiny." He paused, and took a deep breath "Where'd you go before here?" He asked a question! We were making progress. I smiled as I answered.

"It was a school near Houston."

"Why are you in Ohio, did your family move?" Two questions! I grimaced and thought for a minute should I tell him the real reason I'm so far from home? I took a deep breath. Honesty builds friendships I reminded myself, trying to be brave.

"No, they still live there, they didn't want me to live at home anymore so my father sent in my application for a scholarship here, and I started at the beginning of the semester. I'm a sophomore."

"I'm a sophomore too, wait why'd they send you here?"

"My town's homophobic, and I accidentally outed myself. My family wasn't really comfortable with the idea either."

"I'm sorry." he mumbled and stared at me for a long time. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, shook his head and mumbled an apology again.

"It's okay. It's not like they hate me, they just, we all just needed space to adjust. I still talk to them, and I'm at this school because my uncle teaches here, and they figured if they were sending me away they should send me to family." He nods in acknowledgment and shifts uncomfortably. I take it as a hint he wants the conversation to switch.

"So what do you like to do with your free time?" I ask.

"I don't know. I work a lot, but I haven't gotten a job here yet. I read, I watch movies. I used to dance. I was on soccer team at my old school, and in the choir. Umm that's it I guess."

"You sing, and dance? You should try out for the choir here, I've heard they're really good, and I've thought about trying out."

"Maybe." He said.

"Tryouts are next week. I will if you will."

"I'll think about it." He said cautiously, like he was trying to hide how much he wanted to join.

"I'll hold you to it." I said walking over to my desk and pulling out my homework.

"I didn't say yes."

"Uh- huh." I said grinning as I put in my head phones and started my own homework.

That night I walked into the bathroom as Jeff was showering. I pulled my toothbrush down off the shelf and froze as I heard a voice coming through the shower door behind me. It was singing, Jeff was singing, and it was amazing. I've never heard a voice like that in person. He has to tryout for the Warblers.

"You have to try out." I said when he walked out of the shower in his sweats and a t-shirt.

"I said I'd think about it." he said rubbing the water off his obscenely blond hair.

"No I heard you singing and you're amazing. You have to share that voice."

"Thanks, but..."

"No buts, you already promised."

"When?"

"This afternoon." "Liar." I smiled. He was insulting me, a good sign he thinks of us as friends.

Two Days Later

* * *

"Hey Jeff." I said coming into the room.

"Hi Nick." He says back without looking up from his computer.

"How was your school day?"

"Fine."

"That's a boring answer." He looked up at me, equal parts annoyed, and almost touched, maybe because someone cared.

"It was long. Chemistry was the worst though."

"What happened in chem?" I prompted.

"Well I came late in the year, so I didn't have a partner, and I had to do the whole lab by myself and it was a disaster."

"A funny disaster, or a I just failed this project disaster."

"Not really funny, I wish it was though."

"Fair enough, at least it's over."

"Yeah, I'm glad its over."

"But after all the classes today how can you just do homework?"

"I want to get it done, and I need good grades to keep my scholarship."

"Yeah but you're gonna go crazy doing nothing but classes and homework."

"I just got a job so I'm going to work too."

"That's even worse, get up we're leaving."

"What?"

"Trust me." I said and pulled him off his bed by his hands.

"But."

"It'll be better than homework, I promise."

"Fine." He said turning off his computer and pulling on shoes.

"But I swear if you, I don't know try to kill me or something I'll..."

"Dude who do you think I am?" I argued.

"Well I don't know you all that well yet."

"You're smart enough to know if I wanted to kill you I would have done it the first night before anyone else knew you, that way I might get away with it."

"You seem to have thought about that too much." He pointed out as I pulled him from the room, out of the dorm, and down the sidewalk away from Dalton.

"Look a park." He said after being quiet for a good ten minutes.

"Swings!" I noticed and grabbed his arm again to pull him towards them. I let go a few feet away and launched onto the nearest swing.

"Come on, swing with me." I yelled as he stood back and watched me. He glared at me sarcastically but climbed onto the empty swing next to me and pushed off the ground. He closed his eyes with a smile as the swing rose higher, and I knew this was exactly what he needed.

A Few Days Later- Tryouts

* * *

"I can't believe you talked me into this." He said as we stood with eight other nervous students outside the big wooden doors.

"I can't believe they choose us randomly. I don't wanna go after you. I'll sound awful." I whispered as the nerves started to creep up.

"Well then hopefully I'll go after you."

"Thanks for the confidence boost." I told him sarcastically, and he rolled his eyes at me.

"You're gonna get in."

"That's better." I said shoving his shoulder.

"First up is Nick Duval."

"You got this." He said and grinned at me.

"I got this." I repeated trying to convince myself. I enter the room, open my mouth and start to sing.

_I've been waiting on the sunset Bills on my mindset_

_I can't deny they're getting high _

_Higher than my income Incomes bread crumbs I've been trying to survive  
The glow that the sun gets Right around sunset _

_Helps me realize This is just a journey Drop your worries You are gonna turn out fine. _

_Oh, you turn out fine. Fine, oh, you turn out fine._

I started to get more comfortable as the Warblers started to recognize the song, and nod along. I started to move more and act more natural as I reached the chorus.

_But you gotta keep your head up, oh, And you can let your hair down, eh. _

_You gotta keep your head up, oh, And you can let your hair down, eh.  
I know it's hard, know it's hard, To remember sometimes, _

_But you gotta keep your head up, oh, And you can let your hair down, eh.  
I've got my hands in my pockets, Kicking these rocks. It's kinda hard to watch this life go by. _

_I'm buying into skeptics, Skeptics mess with, the confidence in my eyes  
I'm seeing all the angles, starts to get tangled I start to compromise _

_My life and the purpose. Is it all worth it? Am I gonna turn out fine? _

_Oh, you'll turn out fine. Fine, oh, you'll turn out fine._

_But you gotta keep your head up, oh, And you can let your hair down, eh. _

_You gotta keep your head up, oh, And you can let your hair down, eh._

_I know it's hard, know it's hard, To remember sometimes, _

_But you gotta keep your head up, oh, And you can let your hair down, eh._

_Only rainbows after rain The sun will always come again. _

_It's a circle, circling, Around again, it comes around again. _

_I said,_ _Only rainbows after rain The sun will always come again. _

_It's a circle, circling, Around again, it comes around,_

_But you gotta keep your head up, oh, And you can let your hair down, eh. _

_You gotta keep your head up, oh, And you can let your hair down, eh.  
I know it's hard, know it's hard To remember sometimes, _

_But you gotta keep your head up, oh, And you can let your hair down, eh. _

I moved back to the middle of the room as I started the last verse of the song.

_Keep your head up, oh, And you can let your hair down, eh. _

_Keep your head up, oh, And you can let your hair down, eh. _

_Keep your head up, oh, And you can let your hair down. I said oooh _ _no no no noo_

I finished and the Warblers clapped as I was escorted out the back door and told I would hear from them on the following Friday.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed! Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading. Hopefully there will be more soon.**

**I apologize for Mistakes, I have no Betta. I also don't own Glee, and the song was Keep Your Head up by Andy Grammer. **


	2. Chapter 2

** Chapter Two **

One Week Later

* * *

It was the first night Jeff had off of work in a while and we were "watching" the Lion King. Though really we were arguing over whether Timon, and Pumba were friends or in love. Suddenly we heard a knock on the door. I walked over to answer it and three of the Warblers walked in, the council memebers.

"Congratulations boys." David said.

"We got in?" Jeff asked, and I turned to smile at him, proud he was voluntarily talking to people other than me.

"Yes, but you cannot say anything until tomorrow. You will need to be in the room just to the left of the Warbler Commons at eleven AM tomorrow, and we'll introduce you to the rest of the boys." Jeff and I stared at them for a minute before the shock wore off.

"Thank you." Jeff said at the same time that I said "We'll be there."

"We got in" Jeff repeats.

"We got in!" I echo as we just around the room excitedly. We dance around like dorks for a couple minutes, both really excited we're Warblers! After a couple of minutes I notice the movie still playing and start singing along to _Can you Feel the Love Tonight. _Dancing around while singing to each other, until we collapse in a fit of laughter, and I turn my face away from him, hoping he won't see the blush on my cheeks, as I realize I wish he could be in love with me tonight.

The Next Morning

* * *

"Our new Warblers are: Nick Duval, Trent Manchester, Henry Red, Toby Todd, and Jeffery Sterling." I grinned as the names were announced and we were allowed to walk into the commons, and the Warblers swarmed us. I felt completely loved and welcomed into the club. I caught sight of Jeff after about a dozen hugs and pats on the back, and hand shakes, and I'd never seen him smile that big.

"Thank you." He mouthed at me. I shrugged and smiled back at him.

After what felt like a hundred more handshakes everything calmed down, everyone sat down and I ended up on a couch between Trent and Jeff. The meeting started, and seemed to go one forever as we heard about the sacred traditions of the Warblers, and more history and traditions, and then we got a long lecture about how it was all sacred and secret. Afterwords we worked on a song for a while, and long while. Then we went to dinner in the cafeteria together and were loaded into the upperclassmen's cars, and driven a short ways to somebody's house for a party I don't even remember whose.

I was in the last car to arrive, along with three other guys whose names have already blurred together. I walked into the colossal house as the music was being turned up really loud, and the all the boys were shedding their jackets, ties and some of them their button up shirts too leaving them in their plain white undershirts. A couple boys were manning a bar that was set up in a corner. A few others were setting up music, and some were starting to dance near the appointed DJs.

I pulled off my jacket but left the tie on. I joined the group dancing and singing, while watching the line for booze grow and grow. I felt an arm on my shoulder and turned to see Jeff. I smiled as I sang along to the song, and he grinned back. I was happy to see him out of his shell, and showing off his beautiful smile. Wait beautiful smile? I need to stop with these feelings for Jeff, I don't need a crush on my best friend and roommate.

He noticed the confusion that crossed my face and raised an eyebrow. I shrugged and restarted singing along to the song, and began dancing along with Jeff and the other boys.

An hour or so later I was exhausted and wandered out of the crowd that was slowly getting more intoxicated, and found an empty couch. I closed my eyes and caught my breath. Someone sits down next to me and I hear a familiar voice say "Hey."

"Hey Jeff." I answer without opening my eyes.

"Thanks for making me try out."

"No problem, thanks for helping me pick a song."

"It wasn't hard, you listen to him all the time, and your voice fits the song well, and its the best known of his."

"Well thank you none the less."

"After all you've done for me it was the least I could do."

"It was nothing, all I did was befriend the shy boy who showed up in my dorm with a duffel bag, and a backpack."

"Enough serious stuff for tonight, this is a party!" He said, obviously still trying to not explain his strange arrival.

"But I'm tired." I whined.

"Whiner, come dance again." He said standing up, and I glared at him but allowed him to pull me to my feet and back into the crowd of dancing Warblers.

After another hour or so of dancing I see Jeff start to leave the dance floor. I follow him.

"So I don't get to stop dancing, but you do?" I ask him.

"I have work at eight tomorrow."

"Oh, and you don't have a way to get back to Dalton, everyone's keys were confiscated, and everyone was just gonna crash here."

"Yeah but I didn't drive so I can get to work tomorrow. I just need to walk back to Dalton."

"I'll walk with you."

"You don't have to, stay here, and have fun."

"Everyone else is drunk, I don't wanna be around when they're all vomiting tonight, or waking up with hangovers tomorrow."

"Fair enough." he said as we pulled on our jackets and he stuffed his tie in his pocket.

"Why aren't you drinking?" He asked as we left the party.

"Not a fan."

"You just don't like it?"

"Not really, my big brother drank so much once that he was in the hospital for a night then in jail for two because he was seventeen, so it's always made me kind of nervous."

"Fair enough." We walked the rest of the way back to the dorm in silence.

A Week Before Thanksgiving Break

* * *

The ending music to credits of Harry Potter four played in the background as Jeff and I laid on his bed looking up at the ceiling.

"Are you going home for break?" I asked.

"No."

"Me either."

"Why?"

"Plane tickets too expensive."

"Oh."

"I'll be going home for Christmas though."

"That's nice. You'll get to see your family again."

"Why are you staying here?"

"I don't really have a family anymore." I rolled over to look at him, and waited to see if he would continue. He seemed to think about it for a moment but he must have decided to tell me.

"They kicked me out in the middle of the summer. My dad was always a little .. well, anyways he cornered me one afternoon and asked if I was gay. When I didn't answer he told me I had ten minutes to get my stuff and get out of his house."

"Which is why all you had when you moved here was that duffel full of clothes and your backpack." I guessed. He nodded and continued.

"I also took my car, I was really thankful I had bought it, and paid for the insurance and gas and everything all myself, so he had no claim to it." He stopped for a minute and ran his hands through his messy hair.

"I sat in a park and just thought. I didn't cry, didn't get angry, didn't really feel much of anything, but worthless and unloved. I stayed there until it was time for me to go to work and at worked I asked for more hours which I got, and then I slept in my car in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart that night, and the next, and the next. I use to shower at a truck shop, and I mostly ate out of vending machines, or at the restaurant I worked at. I was really thankful when school started, and I started to use the locker room showers, telling the coach I was sick of sharing with my sister, which I a lie, I don't have a sister. Anyways I kept living out of my car, eating dinner when I was waiting tables, doing homework on break and in study hall, sleeping in my car, and showering in the locker room, when one night I was working, and the table I was waiting had my history teacher and his family. We happened to leave around the same time, and he saw me climb into the back seat of my car and wrap up in a blanket. He walked over, knocked on the window, and well the truth just kind of came out, and he helped me apply here, and next thing I knew I was here." He gestured to the room.

"He's the only one who knew until now, and he didn't know why I was kicked out, just trusted me when I said I wouldn't be allowed back. Now here I am, I've talked to him twice since when he's called to check up on me, and I've sort of talked to my brothers, not about being gay, they don't know that, but they know I'm here, that I'm not welcome at home, and that they shouldn't talk to our father about me. But yeah, I, I don't have a family anymore. Not that we were much of one before but..." he trailed off and got a vacant look in his eyes. I put my arms around him, and pulled him to my chest. After a few minutes I leaned down to his ear and whispered.

"I'm glad you told me." He just nodded into my chest.

"You're the bravest person I know." I added a moment later.

"Thanks. But it's not like I had a choice." He mumbled.

"You could have gone to the police, or a shelter."

"I would have been put in foster care, and I would have aged out in a little over a year and ended up on my own anyways."

"I forgot about that, and you're really old for our grade, you'd be eighteen at the end of junior year."

"Yeah, and who knows how many homes I'd live in, how many schools I'd go to in between now and then. I probably wouldn't be able to keep a job long enough to make enough money to support myself, until I graduated high school, and this way I might be able to get a full ride to a college if I keep my grades up."

"Sometimes I forget how logical, and smart you are."

"Thanks." He mumbled awkwardly. I decided to change the subject.

"Now I know why you turn bright red when I sleep in my boxers."

"Yeah I'm embarrassed for how unattractive you are. You poor baby." He shot back sarcastically.

"You think you're real cute don't you."

"No." he scoffed "I know I'm cute. I'm cuter than you."

"We'll go with your theory." I replied sarcastically, and he slipped out my arms.

"Harry Potter Five?" He asked.

"Borrowed it from Blaine yesterday." I replied getting up to retrieve the dvd.

* * *

**Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

** Here's a new chapter for you all! I appreciate the reviews! Hope you enjoy!**

Thanksgiving Break

* * *

I walk out the library after picking up a book I need for an assignment and head back to my room, knowing Jeff will probably be there doing homework, but that is defiantly not what I find. It looks like I walked into a war zone. Both beds have been stripped of their mattresses one of which is completely missing; the other is propped up vertically, and moving slowly across the room. All of our blankets and pillows were piled against the door so I have to wade over them to get into the room, and fall flat on my face.

"You alive?" Jeff questioned popping up from behind a mattress, and coming around to pull me up, before tugging me across the room to the mattress he'd dropped, and I found the other on the ground squished between the bed and the bookshelves.

"What the …." I trailed off looking at the mess.

"I'm building a fort."

"We're building a fort? "

"Yup."

"Okay, what's the plan?" He smirked at me with that glint in his eye.

"Help me move this?" He motioned to the mattress. I grabbed an end and we tugged it until it lined the bed on the floor. Making a three sided fort with a mattress on the bottom, a bookshelf on one side, a mattress on the other and the wall at one of the shorter ends. Then we climbed off the mattress and pulled blankets over the top and open end enclosing it.

"Thanks for your help I'll see you Monday." Jeff said and started to climb in.

"Whoa whoa whoa." I said pulling him out by his feet.

"Hey!" he protested.

"I helped build it, and one of those beds is mine, so it's half mine, you can't just monopolize it all break." I argued.

"I'm gonna be in it with our without you." he said and crawled back in.

"You learned negotiating from my siblings didn't you." I grumbled dropping to my knees and crawling in after him. I settled down lying on my back looking up at the blanket ceiling. After a couple of minutes of saying nothing I say.

"In retrospect I should have brought my laptop, or something." Jeff just laughs at me, and looks back to the book he's reading.

Wednesday we were just lying in our fort doing nothing. Everyone else was gone, and we'd watched every movie in my small movie collection at least once this break already, and neither of us had the money to go anywhere, and it was too cold to stay outside for any length of time. I figured now was as good a time as any to ask Jeff about his life before this.

"Was it hard? Living on your own I mean." I asked while lying on my back watching the blanket ceiling.

"Yes." He admitted shifting next to me.

"It was awful. Working as much as I could, trying to feed myself but trying not to spend my money, doing my laundry in the laundry mat at three in the morning because I was working or at school the rest of the time. Showering at the sketchy truck stop, where I had to pay for water by the minute. Not getting my homework done until three in the morning, and don't even get me started about sleeping in a car. Then there was the loneliness, I didn't have many friends before, but after I was kicked out I couldn't look them in the eye anymore, I felt worthless, and I was a liar keeping so much from them, but we weren't close enough that I would want to ask them for help." He cut off,

"Plus I was a little nervous that they wouldn't give help if I asked. We really weren't close." He admitted before taking a deep breath and continuing. "When I would see them at school they would complain about my not having time to spend with time or a phone to text them, and our friendship ended quickly. After that I was alone a lot. I was never much of a talker at school, so I really only talked to people at work, which was my manager bossing me around, or the customers I was serving. There was one of the other waitresses, the mother of a couple of boys at my school who was really kind, she made me fell like someone cared, even if it was just a little..." He trailed off.

"Anyways, It was just bad, I'm glad I'm here, so so glad I'm here." He finished turning towards me.

"I'm glad you're here too." I mumbled turning to face him, and brushing the stray hair out of his eyes.

"Do you miss home?" He asked me a moment later.

"Sometimes," I admit while tucking my arm under my head.

"I miss parts of it, I miss the Texas accents, and the Texas culture. I miss my siblings, I miss my parents, I miss when my parents didn't look at me as if they don't know me anymore, I miss my puppy, who's not a puppy anymore, I miss the lighter homework load, but there's a lot I like better here too."

"Like what."

"My best fwend!" I say like a toddler crushing Jeff into a hug and when he laughs I let go.

"I like the school, and the students in it. I'm not afraid of anyone here, or afraid of what anyone will think of me. I like the teachers, they're smarter, and better organized, I like sharing a room with you instead of my eight, twelve and thirteen year old brothers, I like not being the third parent to all my siblings."

"You talk about them a lot how many do you have?"

"Six. All younger. The three brothers I share a room with, then a sister who's fifteen and two really little sisters."

"And I thought the big brother was a bother."

"Yeah, I love them but it's a lot to live with that many little siblings, and I wouldn't trade them for anything, but it's nice to be free from my turn at cooking, or washing dishes, and trust me I'm glad I'm free of listening to my brothers snore."

"Yeah but I have to listen to you snore." He retorted, but I ignored him.

"Speaking of family, I'm having Thanksgiving dinner with my uncle, wanna come?"

"No, I don't wanna intrude."

"I wasn't actually asking, I was telling you that you're coming."

"But..."

"Nope. You're coming. They're expecting you."

"Thanks."

"What are best friends for? Besides it'll give me someone besides my aunts uncles and baby cousins to talk to."

"Psh you just need a ride." He accused sarcastically.

"You caught me." I laughed with him.

* * *

"Are you sure they want me here?" Jeff asked nervously picking at the sleeves of the shirt I'd lent him.

"You're fine, they're one of those big happy 'the more the merrier' families, they probably just hug you and say you're handsome. Oh and the little cousins may attack."

"Really?" He didn't sound convinced.

"Just wait,they'll do it to me too, oh and they'll spend lots of time telling me how young I was when they saw me last, and how I'm growing into a fine young man."

"Okay." He said nervously.

"Okay." I agreed before pressing the doorbell. The door flew open almost immediately and my little cousins swarmed me. I had one attached to each leg another with her arms around my stomach crushing my hip bones and another pulling me into the house by my hand. I turned around and mouthed 'save me!' But Jeff just stood there and laughed at me.

"Some friend you are." I told the laughing boy when I'd finally peeled off my cousins.

"I didn't think you were in mortal danger." He shrugged.

"Nicky!" I hear and turn just in time to get swooped into my Aunt Tessa's arms, into one of those hugs that only mothers can give. She was so much like my mom and I felt so loved, and missed home simultaneously. When she released me and turned to my roommate.

"This must be Jeff." She said and pulled him into a hug. I smiled at the way Jeff melted into the embrace after not having a family for months, and a mother since he was a toddler he must miss motherly hugs. She finally released him.

"You handsome boys. You're just skin and bones, the both of you. You need to come over more often and I'll feed you real food." She told us both.

"Yes ma'am we will." I assured her, and she nodded before heading back to separate the kids that were now wrestling on the living room floor.

"Hey, follow me." I said as I headed towards the kitchen. I said 'hi' to my uncles, two of which were sitting at the counter, while the other was stirring something on the stove. All six eyes glued to the football game on the television.

"Okay no response, we're good." I said to my best friend.

"For what?" He asked.

"This" I said swiping two crescent rolls from the basket and handing one to him.

"These are my favorite." He said as he took a bite.

"Mmhmm." I agreed with my mouth full.

"Nicholas Jonathon Duval! What do you think you're doing?" I hear and turn around swallowing.

"Ummm."

"You think you could just waltz in here without coming to say hi to me? Stealing food was more important?" She said in a teasing voice.

"Hi Aunt Kate." I said hugging her.

"Geez the last time I saw you you were this big." She said holding her hand to my shoulder. You've gotten so big and become so handsome." She stated. I looked at Jeff over her shoulder and rolled my eyes, _I told you so. _He just stuck his tongue out at me, but my Aunt turned around and pulled him into a hug too. "I'm Aunt Kate, you must be the poor soul who has to room with my nephew. I apologize for him. He's not the brightest Duval out there."

"Hey!"

"What? He already knows you, the rest of us could still make a good impression."

"She's got a point." Jeff said, the traitor.

"I give up. I'm just gonna eat my stolen crescent rolls in peace." I said going back into the kitchen to steal another.

"So where are you from?" I hear my aunt ask Jeff and I pop back into the other room, say "Mine." and pull him away before he gets the chance to answer.

"Thanks."

"No problem." I said just before we were swarmed by my little cousins again, and couldn't do anything but wrestle with them until dinner time was called.

I plopped down at the table out of breath sitting between my six year old cousin and Jeffery. My family started to link hands for our prayer and I took my cousin's hand and Jeff's and he turned bright red and looked at me. I closed my eyes as we started our normal prayer together and he just sat quietly until he could echo our ending 'amen.' My little cousin pulled her hand from mine, and I realized I was still holding Jeff's and we both looked down at our hands at the same time before looking away blushing, and slowly pulling our hands apart.

We turned to listen to my uncle who was telling a crazy story, and we ate the rest of the meal without anything more than asking to pass food or saying that it was all delicious. I kept trying not to stare at Jeff and the way his face lit up when he laughed at the stories my uncles were trading.

After the dinner Jeff volunteered to help with dishes and I was going to offer to help too, but my uncle said I was to help him carry up the heaviest of the Christmas decorations from the basement so he didn't have to do it all alone the next day, and I followed him down the stairs.

"So when are you gonna ask that boy out?" my uncle said when we reached the bottom of the stairs.

"What?"

"Jeff, the boy in my kitchen...When are you gonna ask him out?"

"He's he's my best friend, he's my roommate, I'm not gonna mess that up."

"Do you seriously think he doesn't have feelings for you too?

"I don't know?"

"Think about it."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! I don't own Glee, and I love the reviews.**


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